Cultural Humility in Nutrition
The post below is a paper I wrote near the end of my time in graduate school. It is a reflection on racism and inequality in Oregon, food production, and wellness culture. It is also an acknowledgement that I am proactively working to educate myself and aim to always provide culturally appropriate, individualized nutritional counseling for all people.
“We were all human until race disconnected us, religion separated us, politics divided us, and wealth classified us.” – Unknown
Racial Divide in Oregon:
As an Oregon-native, and seventh-generation Oregonian, I am well aware that Oregon has a rather shameful history of bigotry and white supremacy. Even before it’s state-hood, the Oregon territory held racist laws preventing non-white people from living here. This blatant racism and discrimination was then woven into Oregon’s constitution when we became a state in 1859. The state’s original constitution included the words, “no free negro or mulatto, not residing in this state at the time of the adoption of this constitution, shall ever come, reside, or be within this State, or hold any real estate, or make any contract, or maintain any suit therein”. 1 Whoa. Oregon is the only state in the country that began as a literal, “whites only” state. 1 This wording remained in Oregon’s constitution until 1922.1 Unfortunately, the overt racism of Oregon didn’t end with the removal of those hateful words. The same year those words were removed, 1922, the Ku Klux Klan had their largest group, west of the Mississippi river, here in Oregon and the state elected one of their members as governor. He later became a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1932-1942.1
The racism and whiteness of Oregon has been an appealing draw for many white supremacy groups throughout the state’s history. One of the most prevalent of these recent groups is the skinheads, who found Oregon’s whiteness particularly appealing when their numbers quickly grew in the 1980s and 1990s1, and who continue to have large membership in the state today. I live in Oregon City, one of the whitest of the white cities in white Oregon. It’s actually a little unnerving how few black, and other minority races we see here. We had never even had a black person, man or woman, on our city commission board until Winter 2018! When I asked a new (now, thankfully, former) neighbor why he moved to Oregon and how he ended up in Oregon City, his answer was, “it’s nice and white”. My jaw nearly hit the sidewalk. I guess I probably should have been tipped off by his confederate flag front license plate. This was in 2011, and until that time, it had never even occurred to me that people still held these ideas, let alone that they would be proud and unashamed of them.
In my opinion, white supremacists in our state and country have recently become emboldened by the country’s current “leadership” showing tolerance and even promoting hate speech, violence, and exclusionary agendas. This hate is a self-fulfilling prophecy keeping the country, and Oregon, divided. Less cultural and ethnic diversity leads to fear and misunderstanding. Fear and misunderstanding lead to hate and violence, hate and violence lead to segregation and lack of understanding… and the cycle continues. As The Washington Post wrote in an article about Portland shortly after the Max train stabbings in 2017, “Without diversity, overt racism often goes unchecked. And where it goes unchecked, it persists”.2
Oregon is a sad reminder that “progressive politics and discrimination are not mutually exclusive”.2 We must demand change and be the change in every aspect of our lives. How do we, as individuals and as a state, address the issue of racism and bring meaningful, lasting change to a state with such deeply racist roots, while helping bring Oregon residents of color a sense of belonging and peace? Education. It seems like the obvious answer, but it’s certainly not the easiest. Is there an easier option though? I don’t think so. I plan to incorporate education about issues of race into as many areas of my life as possible moving forward. I am 30-something and have been comfortable, complicit, and “unaffected” by issues of race for long enough. I look forward to having uncomfortable conversations, using my privilege and position of power in society to make change, and not settling for policy, practices, or rhetoric that marginalize, criminalize, and impoverish people of color.
An Education:
As I am now in a graduate school program, and I began attending full-time school at 2.5 years-old, it means that I have received over eighteen years of schooling in my life thus far. (Whoa. I am very fortunate). Over all of those years, days, and hours sitting in classrooms and studying history, social studies, sociology, education (my major), philosophy, literature, and humanities (among many other subjects), my teachers touched on many of the topics of this class. However, upon reflection before beginning this paper, one glaring omission from my education became evident: the role of African Americans in the American food system. I am embarrassed to say that it had never even occurred to me to consider black farmers as a sub-population to be studied, or that the significance of that population related to our country’s historical and current oppressive practices and policies. At least during my public school education in a suburb of Portland, I was taught about the genocide, exploitation, and oppression of Native People in in the U.S. The plight of the Latinx farmworker community has been on my radar for some time due to my undergraduate major in early childhood and elementary education at University of Oregon. There was quite a bit of education on the impact of migrant and working life on children’s education in that particular program. I also grew up with an above average understanding of prison-life with a number of family members working as police and correctional officers in jails and prisons throughout the country. Even then, the majority of my knowledge about inmate health came from my own follow up research after a two-season binge of Orange Is The New Black a few years ago. Indeed, “we don’t know what we don’t know”, but now that I know, in part thanks to this class, I do plan to do better and use the knowledge I have acquired to purposefully support the population of black farmers, along with other the vulnerable populations we studied, whenever possible.
From the time I signed up for the MScN program I was always looking forward to this class. I am married to an environmental attorney, consider myself a democratic socialist, am vegan, have solar panels on my home, drive and electric car, and I grow, cook, and preserve organic and heirloom fruits and vegetables in my home garden. I try to live my life in a way that respects the planet and all of the people and creatures who share this little blue marble of a home. I enjoy learning about other cultures, other people, traditions, and stories, and actively seek out ways to further educate myself on topics of social, political, ethical, and historical significance. However, despite all of these best intentions and efforts, I know that I fall short. I know that my own cultural biases, and the privileged lens through which I view and live my life, has caused harm and suffering (even if unintentional) to others. There is no way to deny that any inaction or unintended ignorance on a subject can do harm. When we don’t actively work toward change, it allows the acceptance of white privilege, propagates hate/fear of those who are different, and exploits people, land, and animals for profit of a select few. None of this is okay, and I know that I cannot fix it on my own, but I do believe in the ripple effect of change. It’s time to make some more droplets in my puddle.
As a nutritionist, I plan to focus on plant-based nutritional counseling and education for personal health, sustainability, and compassion for animals and people. I want to focus on chronic disease prevention, mitigation and healing through a natural, food and lifestyle-centered approach. I feel like my work as a nutritionist in this area will actively work to support vulnerable communities and educate those with power and status. Something that all people, of all colors, religions, and politics do is… eat. If I can teach people compassion for themselves and justice for others, and promote health through food, I can make lasting change through life-long eating and lifestyle changes in my clients.
The themes I saw reflected in the readings, presentations, and classwork this term were: exploitation, fear, and inequity. All three of these themes came wrapped in a subtle package of white privilege, which was particularly gut wrenching since I am about as white of a person as they come, being of Norwegian and English Heritage. I have friends who would point out that the twinge of pain I felt upon this realization was just my white fragility showing; maybe so - I’ll just have own that. I can accept some discomfort if it motivates me to be and do better. The more awareness of the suffering around me, the more motivated I am to create change for those who are suffering, due to my inaction, every day. I hope that my future clients will see my educational points and nutritional focus as just that and apply what they learn from me, toward making better choices for themselves, their neighbors, their communities, and the country.
I used to believe that America was not a “melting pot”, but “a wonderful salad bowl”, as my eighth-grade social studies teacher liked to put it. We all look different and come from different places, but we bring our own “flavor” and create something that couldn’t exist without those differences. Oh, to be so young and naive again. It’s a nice idea though. In the class readings and materials, the theme of our connectedness as humans was undeniable. Each sub-population does have a unique story, set of traditions, history, and knowledge that, unfortunately, has been systematically exploited by white people, instead of celebrated and nurtured. This exploitation has been motivated by fear of what would happen if non-white, non-wealthy and (likely) non-males had equal political and cultural power. White (men) people certainly wouldn’t make as much money, so they done everything possible to keep that from happening, and it’s time for a change.
Over the past few weeks we began our education about the food insecurity and social inequality facing many sub-populations in America, including: inmates, those living in food deserts, migrant/Latinx farm workers, African Americans, and indigenous people. I say “began our education” because, if nothing else, this class has been the gentle push I needed to remember how much I don’t know. In the words of David Freeman, “the more you know, the more you realize how much you don’t know”. As much as I’d like to think of myself as well-educated, compassionate individual, who is willing to fight injustices, and enact positive change in the world, the material in this class has been a bit of a blow to my ego. Luckily, nothing motivates a competitive, empathetic personality like a reality-check hit to the ego. I will come out of this class motivated in my personal life to be a better advocate for those less fortunate than me, to practice as a nutritionist in a way that is culturally sensitive and supportive, and to recognize the interconnectedness between marginalization of groups of people and the health of our American society and the planet. I will be a teacher for, and student of, all. Let’s all work together so we can know better, do better, and live better together.
Citations:
1. Brown, DeNeen. The Washington Post. June 7, 2017. When Portland Banned Blacks: Oregon’s Shameful History as an All-White State. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/06/07/when-portland-banned-blacks-oregons-shameful-history-as-an-all-white-state/?utm_term=.ad3978e59304. Accessed February 7, 2019.
2. Stephan, Keegan. The Washington Post. June 1, 2017. Portland Isn’t Portlandia. It’s A Capital Of White Supremacy. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-hate-crime-in-super-progressive-portland-should-surprise-no-one/2017/06/01/d3b99782-46d8-11e7-a196-a1bb629f64cb_story.html?utm_term=.861ca5d28492. Accessed February 7, 2019.